ship

The Secret Society – On The Atlantic

Woolie came back! My family was up in the country for the week, which is where I was supposed to be, but I took the train back down. I didn’t want to be that far from the office. I’m getting a lot of side-eye from just about everybody in my life but… ghosts, mystery, magic. Concessions are gonna have to be made.

I was working this morning, and heard the familiar sound of the other AG offices… which now are just kind of relaxing, calming, like white noise… And then I heard a voice.

It was Woolie, and he was talking a mile a minute, pacing the room. More “solid” that he was the last time but flickering in and out. The dream I had must not have been a dream. I must’ve given him the phrase in my sleep-deprived delirium because he was back, and he was chatty. I started writing as fast as I could, but I had to fill in when I couldn’t catch up. I hope he doesn’t mind.

“I can remember now that I had suffered a great loss that I am still unable to recall, but was decided that I would not let it pull me down. This was in my first life. My life without magic. I had found myself suffocated by the city and all that was expected of me, so I joined a ship’s crew out of New York Harbor, ferrying goods back and forth from ports along both sides of the Atlantic. It was bliss. Freedom, some semblance of adventure. New vistas, new ideas.

We’d been out on a run for a week, returning from Nova Scotia, and we happened on a battered lifeboat with only a single soul on board. A man, older than my father, near dead from cold and thirst. We brought him onboard and I, as the most junior man of the crew, was tasked with keeping him alive until we made port in six days’ time.

I kept watch on him, and after a night of filling his belly with water and cured meat he was strong enough to sit up, strong enough to speak.

He’d booked passage on a screw steamer that was coming up from San Juan when they’d run into bad weather and took on water. He said things that didn’t make sense. He said his work was almost done and he had to keep on. He’d walked a long trail and was sure he had almost reached the end of his journey. There was another world beyond this, where truth had been hidden, and he had found a secret road to walk that would lead him to the truth and allow him to leave this all behind.

He was delirious so I put him to bed for the night. But I couldn’t sleep. Something about what he’d said. The hidden truth about the world. Leaving this all behind. It had plucked a string in me, the thrum resonating in my chest, warming me. I wanted to know what he’d meant, needed to know more about this path, this truth. He was a minister and I his wide-eyed believer. I checked on him early the next morning, but he had passed sometime in the night.

In his rucksack was a waterlogged journal. In it he had written the names and locations of hundreds of places from all around the world. A list made up of sculptures, ancient ruins, works of art… Most of them had been crossed out. However, he had connected the remaining names with a thick red line that ran through the journal. On the line he’d written the words, “The Path”.

It seemed like lunacy, but I recall a feeling like a fire running through me the moment I saw those two words. The Path. There was a knock on the cabin door and I answered it, assuming it was the captain come to check on the gentleman, but there was no one on the other side. I turned back to the journal on the table.

The image of a door on its last page, where the red line ended. I felt a kinship with the man’s madness. A connection. We both saw the lie of this world, but he had sought the truth at all costs. In the months after losing all I had, I’d considered taking my own life to end my torment. To free myself. But he had persevered. Worked out the way the truth had been locked away. And now I knew with a mad, unexplainable certainty that I’d found the key, and with it, a way to leave this world behind.”

He stopped talking. I turned around to ask him a question, and he was gone. I transcribed everything I scribbled and just now looked up at the dry erase board we have in the office. He was writing on it, the words disappearing just as he wrote them, but I got them down. There was another riddle hidden in his memory…

On wheels or wings
On wires or things
That grow but aren’t alive
That travel between north and south
Or twinkle in the sky

A link in the address
Where gold bubbles flow
A mill I can reach
And minerals low
A meeting of waters
A jolt in the air

Go have a wander
There’s memories there

296 Comments

  1. Minerals low…, a mine, then?

    A meeting of waters is my town. Kamloops is sequepmc for where two rivers meet. I live not far from the meeting point, i could go check it out?

  2. So, we’re thinking this is like last time? If so, anyone else see something that sounds familiar? I’m back home from uni now, and my town is an old mining city. Not sure if there’s any old mines around though, or a mill… “That grow but aren’t alive”… What grows that isn’t alive? A wall or something?

  3. Anyone from berlin? China?

    Also, im not saying it is the same but im not saying it isnt. Lets be cautious guys, no use going on a witchhunt without confirmation unless we have hits.

    1. We have three Mounties in the UK, and of course one in Australia, at least as far as the Secret Society members go. Otherwise, everyone else is in North America.

      I’m thinking we shouldn’t rule anyone out, even if they had a location last time. Better safe than sorry, you know?

  4. So, “A link in the address” stands out to me. It’s worth noting that the first stanza of the poem has five lines, but the second one has six. I’m wondering if maybe we’re looking for one specific address that will give us a clue to a website, or if the various locations we’re meant to go to will give us bits of a website address?

  5. I know my town has a pretty famous mill, but it’s about 16 minutes drive away. It says a mill I can reach, so I’m not sure if that’s me or not. Plus, I feel like “I can reach” is significant beyond the distance.

  6. I’m sure my mind is jumping to conclusions again, but I may need to try another visit to the “mill”hopper…

    Though the “I can reach” reminds me of the fact that I still can’t go into the hole in the ground according to their site.

  7. If it’s like last time, then there should be pairs. But the first section only has 5 while the second has six. Maybe “a link in the address” is talking about how one of the pairs has something on one of their websites?

  8. 100% agree with Rev. I wouldn’t rule anything out.

    If you have the faintest guess it might be near you, check it out if and when you can. Worst thing that happens is you get out and see some site you may not have known a lot about before. But there’s just a bit of a thrill going out the door to see go somewhere just to see if magiq happens.

  9. Everyone, I don’t know what I did, but I found one.

    I was waiting for a meeting with my advisor in my department building at college. I was scrolling through my phone when I noticed an unfamiliar notification. I’ll try and figure out why I got this one, but the memory I got was “A Terrible Storm.”

      1. Also, when I got back to my room (my meeting got cancelled), I noticed that my Herman pin was gone from the hat I’ve been keeping it on this summer. Even when everyone was posting about theirs moving about, mine had always kind of stayed dormant, I guess?

        I found it, though. It was on the front flap of the messenger bag I’ve been using this summer. I didn’t notice that it had moved, and I don’t know when it did.

      1. I don’t know what clue it could be, Rev. The building I was in is called the Godfrey Hall of Anthropology, though that’s also connected to the Logan Museum of Anthropology. Do you all have any ideas of what it could be? I’m sort of busy today, so I don’t have a lot of time to spend decoding what clue it could have been.

    1. That’s an excellent starting point, but we may need to expand our search this time. At least as far as this first clue, it seems to be something that might be overlooked by that site. :brandonthinking:

      1. I think I have at least part of it. That museum is near the Indian Burial mounds. “Wisconsin Indian mounds were usually built along bluff tops adjacent to rivers. The Beloit College group illustrates this pattern, as it is situated on high ground overlooking the confluence of the Rock River and Turtle Creek. ” A confluence being the junction of two rivers. So, I think it’s quite possible it was “A meeting of waters.”

        1. It’s possible, but I’m not sure if that’s it. The actual confluence of the Rock River and Turtle Creek is about a mile away from where I got the notification. Again, it’s possible, but then I would have expected to get the notification closer to that place (there’s a space called Nature At The Confluence which I think would have been a better fit for that clue).

  10. Also @Robert, per your suggestion, I’ve been looking into the shipping company that “AG” used to send the piece of freight. They were bought by a company whose assets were bought by another company when the second company went bankrupt. Surprise, a tangled magical mess! Will keep digging while you Mounties dig into this poem.

  11. Ill see what i can do about checking the adam river and fraser river connection point.

    EDIT: kay, the location itself is over 2 hours away from here, ill need to talk to someone about road tripping it out to lytton for the day this week or next week maybe.

    EDIT EDIT: jk its at a park 5 minutes from where i busk, checking it out today.

  12. Okay, I’ve just remembered that one of our museums here is based on our industrial heritage, aka mining. Unsure if it’s anything, but other than us having an air display next weekend (that I can’t go to anyway, though “wheels and wings”), there’s not too much in my home city. I do have a ruined castle I may as well rule out though that’s on the way to the museum.

    I would also like to suggest observatories (“that twinkle in the sky”). “A jolt in the sky” to me is either something to do with lightning or electricity. Anyone think of anything like that near them?

  13. Oh dear, if it’s museums related to the clues (or even just the first verse)…

    I’d better start making a list, try to sort through all the ones in my area, see if one might fit. :deirdrexd:

    1. I’m not saying they’re all museums, I’m just saying that mine could be the museum. I can’t remember: were all the clues similar? I didn’t think they were all churches, for example.

      1. With the last riddle, that’s true, but with how this riddle’s worded it… makes it sound (to me) like aspects of museums and the like as a whole. At least until someone else finds a memory someplace completely unrelated. :ascendershrug:

        Especially if our friendly Atlas Obscura isn’t going to be as useful this time.

  14. There’s a small miner’s museum in my town I could check out and the school of mines os a few towns over (In Golden which maybe relates a link in the name where golden bubbles flow?)

  15. I like the idea it could be a museum theme. A few random ideas to see if anyone is near.

    For ‘link in the address’ there’s the

    O. Winston Link museum on Western Virginia.

    And for ‘a jolt in the air’ I’d love it if it’s the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe in Shoreham, NY (I’ve always wanted to visit it, bit far for me to get to in any timely manner though.)

  16. At the very least, thinking about museums might kick-start the brainstorming for people, so that’s something. I don’t know of any non-art museums offhand, but I’m pondering.

  17. Update: two rivers meet literally five minutes from my busking spot. Gonna check it out today

    Update: not here. Anyone else have two rivers that meet near them?

  18. The fact that the journal was all related to monuments or works of art makes me think public institutions and monuments (i.e. Museums, monuments, sculptures, etc).

    @Remus

    Would this be relevant to the Logan:

    Peet’s mineral collection—storage is currently in the basement, but that might be a stretch.

    We also got a lot of artifacts from the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition.

    Could be confluence because of the sculpture by the music building??

    Again, I don’t know if Herman knows I’m home yet. He’s stayed pretty content on my winter hat so he might still be on WI time. Near me though, I have the Surfing Museum (a converted lighthouse, very Thorn), Bigfoot Museum, the SC Mission, and the Long Marine Lab/Seymour Discovery Center, but none of those seem to match any of the clues. I’ll keep looking, but as I said, I don’t know if Herman knows he’s in CA right now…

    1. I thought about the mineral collection, bit I was pretty sure somewhere farther down it says that the collection has been disturbed to other places. However, that surest mean it couldn’t be “minerals low.” I doubt the confluence one because out went off in the building, and it was pretty specific where it went off.

  19. Might be a little far fetched but I’m gonna try the port of Brisbane… it’s right where the river meets the sea and would have a lot of lights and mineral exports and stuff… probably waaayy off but always worth a shot :grin: might drag @Lancelot along with me :grin:

  20. @Remus

    Mounds maybe then? Or WAC. I have no idea how close the proximity thing for the locations is, but that was built with money from Andrew Carnegie and used to be the old science library. Maybe gold?

    –bubbling gold, a fountain?–

    OR:

    William S. Godfrey conducted work on a tower of potential viking origin in RI. Maybe related to that?

    JSOR search for (au:“William S. Godfrey”):

    https://www.jstor.org/action/doAdvancedSearch?la=&isbn=&sd=&ed=&q2=&q3=&f3=all&q0=William+S.+Godfrey&q4=&q5=&f6=all&f5=all&f0=au&c2=AND&c1=AND&c3=AND&f2=all&acc=off&c5=AND&c6=AND&group=none&f1=all&c4=AND&f4=all&q1=&q6=&pt=

    (Lots of stuff with vikings in NA, esp. the tower, but you’re the anthropologist and the one who found the clue so you might more likely to know how relevant this info is…)

    1. I think those are a bit of a reach. While the Logan is trying to deaccession its collections, I think that the idea of the collections as something that “grows but aren’t alive” is still the best connection do far. However, I think we need others to find clues before we make any final guesses.

      1. Oh yeah, definitely. But you know me, always going down rabbit holes. I was just trying to explore options. I do really like the “grows but aren’t alive” for museums too! The museum geek in my is so happy rn.

  21. Soooo…the poem has been stuck in my head all week. I’ve turned it over and over and I’m still not sure how to unravel it any further, so I’m gonna dump all of my thoughts here:

    The last poem had six total clues, with one line from the first stanza paired to one line from the second to indicate a location. These stanzas aren’t obviously broken into sets of six that way, but assuming that this poem still follows the “six and six” pattern, by my reckoning that would give us:

    Group A

    wheels

    wings

    wires

    things that grow but aren’t alive (glaciers? stalactites? museum collections?)

    things that travel between north and south (migratory birds?)

    things that twinkle in the sky (stars?)

    Group B

    A link in the address (a street address? a web address? a form of address to a person?)

    somewhere gold bubbles flow (champagne? a bar?)

    A mill I can reach (who’s I? also, weird thing to point out. Why would the clue point us to a mill we couldn’t reach? what’s the point of indicating this?)

    Minerals low (I have a theory about this one below…)

    A meeting of waters (is this literal? figurative? could be either)

    A jolt in the air (I’ve got nothing for this one, tbh.)

    However, I’m not sure about this breakdown BECAUSE, from a linguistic perspective, getting six and six clues breaks up a lot of phrases:

    on wheels or wings

    on wires or things that grow but aren’t alive,

    that travel between north and south or twinkle in the sky

    A link in the address where gold bubbles flow

    a mill I can reach and minerals low

    Not sure about those last two, but yeah. I dunno. Thoughts?

    1. I’m in the Pacific Northwest and just hiked up to the Coleman Glacier at Mt. Baker a few days ago. There’s no cell reception anywhere on the mountain so it’s probably a safe bet that the glaciers there aren’t what we’re looking for. Which is a shame because they’re stunning to see.

    2. This makes me think of electricity – maybe a science museum with a Faraday cage? Otherwise, I can’t think of any other permanent location where electricity would be zipping through the air.

      1. Didnt nicola tesla create an enormous pair of tesla coils when he was developing them that he used to zap flocks of butterflies? The things created literal bolts of lightning, maybe there are a few in a museum somewhere?

  22. So, I just realized something. An animal that travels North and south would be a monarch butterfly. Maybe that would fit “things that travel between North and south”.

    1. If that’s the case, I may have to walk around outside the museum next door on my lunch break tomorrow; they have a butterfly rainforest… :butterfly:

  23. Things that travel north and south? Me lol XD not for long though, this move is finally almost over and Secret Society will have my full and nearly undivided attention.

    I’m probably way off base with this but what if “Things that aren’t alive but grow” is a reference to a cemetery?

  24. So I’ve had a hectic time recently, but I think I can be pulling my weight here a bit better now! So I’ll be giving this all a think, and hopefully I’ll be able to come up with something helpful.

    On the other hand, almost certainly not related, but I happened to get a song called “North and South” by Hey Marseilles recommended to me on Spotify. It’s pretty catchy, even if it’s not a clue :joy::joy::joy:

  25. I’ve been trying to wrap my brain around this set of clues, but I feel like the things I’m pulling from it are more vague when taken as individual lines…so to approach it a different way, the first stanza is definitely giving me transportation-y vibes. Wheels, wings, and wires all fit into that (wheels would describe a lot of things, wings like airplanes, wires like cable cars or trolleys). The “things that grow but aren’t alive” is a tougher sell, but could be transportation networks expanding out or connecting. “Travel between north and south” could describe a lot of transportation features – roads, train lines, trails, etc, and “twinkle in the sky” could be airplane related again.

    So trying to think of transportation things that would be safe to check…plenty of highways go north/south but walking around near those would be A Bad Plan. Something that came to me was that the only train line through town is oriented essentially north/south until you get a good ways away, something that appears to be unique on this particular railway…so that might be worth a shot to look into. Otherwise, there’s a small airport near me but I don’t think I could get close to it.

    That might be a long-shot or a highly over-thought interpretation, so I’ll keep brainstorming, but I thought I’d put it out there in case it jogs something with someone else too.

    1. Everytime I think of airplanes as a clue, I can only think of Wright-Paterson Airforce Base and the US Air and Space Museum, the only things near me. Only one of those is accessible though, for reasons.

  26. I tried walking around outside the butterfly enclosure just now, as well as the garden they have out there. No dice.

    I’ll have to see when I can get out to the Millhopper again…

  27. I walked all around inside our aerospace engineering building, which has a replica of the Apollo capsule and other general space/plane bits…no luck though. I’m still holding out hope for the train station, but I don’t think I can work in a walk out that way until Saturday.

  28. How’s it going Mounties? Any new ideas pop up over the weekend? I’m stymied with book stuff but I’ll take another long look at the riddle and see if I can come up with some new ideas. Please feel feee to join me. :sweat_smile:

  29. Afraid not. The shear number of possible combinations, the sparse descriptions, coupled with my complete and utter lack of knowledge of the area around where I live (Spoiler: I hate the area I live in) means unless I get stupendously lucky and wander blindly into the area, I doubt I’ll find it if one of those clues is near me.

    I still think a good starting step would be to figure out how the one memory we did stumble on relates to the poem. That would start to give us a framework for the poem and eliminate parts of it. But I’ve had no luck doing that.

  30. Well, I have today off…

    The responsible thing for me to do would be to get myself presentable, scrounge up the entrance fee, and try to give the Millhopper another walk-around before it rains (the stairs down are still closed, the news said a couple weeks ago that they may end up replacing them rather than just repairing).

    Then again, I just woke up, so let’s see if I can manage it (if not, I can try again Friday or Saturday). :hermanthumbs:

  31. I’m gonna try some og Mountaineer detective work.

    Okay, so we have… (yes, I’m quoting myself)

    I agree with @Viviane that the first stanza could be broken down into six clues:

    On wheels

    Or wings

    On wires

    Or things that grow but aren’t alive (My bet for @Remus ‘s clue)

    That travel between north and south

    Or twinkle in the sky

    And we’re assuming all six first stanza clues could be paired with the second stanza clues:

    A link in the address

    Where gold bubbles flow

    A mill I can reach

    And minerals low (My bet for @Remus’s clue)

    A meeting of waters

    A jolt in the air

    Regarding @Remus ‘s clue: My gut is that the museum being started with a mineral collection feels right, but having nothing to back that up other than it feeling all old and… AGP-y.

    But I also think that might be a tip that these could be museums. You do “wander” around museums (a stretch, I know) So, going down that road we now have five potential pairs left:

    • One that pairs with some wheeled form of transportation.
    • One that pairs with flight or a flying form of transportation.
    • I think “on wires” and “a jolt in the air” is a pretty sure bet for a match.
    • @Cj_Heighton knows “A meeting of waters” relates to Kamloops so we just need to find the one that pairs with that.
    • Gold bubbles seems like it relates to champagne but I don’t know how that relates to any remaining first stanza clues… France? A town called Champagne?

    I realize I have offered no help whatsoever or discovered anything you haven’t already discovered.

    One thing… and this seems ridiculous… but thinking about “north and south” and the first line of the second stanza: a “link in” the address. Could “link in” be an oronym?

    Link in =? Lincoln?

    :tinfoilhat:

    1. Wow. :exploding_head: That’s amazing! Have to agree with @Augustus_Octavian; Once a Mountaineer, always a Mountaineer. Also, could “on wires” and “a jolt in the air” refer to a trollie or train? If I remember correctly, there’s a Mountiee with lives in Seattle were a magline? was put up for a World Fair.

    2. Sabes, what if “Minerals low” is also an oronymous clue? Minerals + “Low”-gan Museum?

      And I don’t know about travelling, but North and South + Lincoln makes me think of the Lincoln Memorial (which I pass periodically on the interstate)…not a museum, per se, but maybe close enough to be worth checking out?

      Edit: Lincoln + address. Gettysburg Address. That was a real thing. Feeling like I should maybe hit up the National Mall.

  32. Heres what I found on the Province called Champagne, I’m trying to think if we have any French Mounties? If not, has anyone been planning a trip? If not, I think its safe to cut this from our current list of working theories.

    EDIT

    Heres a USA town in Illinois called Champaign, I know the spelling is different but… I know its a lot more local to some of you.

    1. Champaign, Illinois would make a lot more sense, I think. We don’t have any French Secret Society members, as far as I’m aware.

      Looks like they’ve got a couple museums in the area. I noticed they have a planetarium. Could “Where gold bubbles flow or twinkle in the sky” be the full clue?

      Edit: @Mr5yy – Is the Aviation Museum near you? Maybe the clue is ‘on wings’?

  33. Could “Gold bubbles flow” mean champagne and if so that could indicate the location is a stately home or some other place the rich are found

      1. Mountie-wise, that would make the most sense and I did find a place about 30 miles outside Sydney that they’ve been trying to turn into another airport that once had a radio telescope, but it still looked awfully far on the map.

        In other news, I was having a think (particularly about how it seems the second half of the clues pertain to location names), and it was making me feel less certain about the Millhopper being an answer. I’ll try to do some digging into places that could work that have “mill” in the name (or their history, which was how I found the place outside Sydney).

          1. They’re not really, though I know he occasionally passes through. (distance was a big reason I did the strikethrough)

    1. I wasnt aware this was the exhibit for the summer. Ill check it out tomorrow. Also i totally misread you there sabes, thought you said a meeting of waters and a jolt in the air were paired. My bad.

  34. @OracleSage, I think Champaign is good, but I think I’m the closest Mountie to Champaign, but even for me it’s a three or four hour drive.

    @Viviane and @Saberlane, I think those are both excellent justifications for the Logan being the place I found the clue! That would mean both @Ravenwing and I were right about what we thought it would be, if each of these are paired (also, oronymous is such a good word, Viv :cagshearts:).

  35. I had a thought:

    If the second half of the clues seems to do with the place name, “a jolt in the air” could refer to a place known for a lot of lightning.

    I recall Orlando being pretty high on that list at one point…

    Here’s a list I found (it says it’s dated for yesterday, but the data they’re citing is at least 2 years old)

  36. Also, I was so stuck on the mill part, I forgot about someplace else I can try.

    “Or twinkle in the sky” sounds like stars/planets, which leans toward a planetarium/observatory…

    or the solar system walk that’s much closer than the heckin’ Millhopper. :bashfacepalm:

    1. Awesome find, @Mike! I think we’re working off the assumption that each of these are paired verses (one verse from the first stanza and another from the second). Can you think of any that yours might match?

      We’re working on the assumption that the clue “That grow but aren’t alive” is part of my clue, but let us know your ideas on it!

  37. Hey gang, sorry I’ve been MIA. Been trying to sort some things out for a massive shift.

    So I don’t have anything massively avgeeky near me BUT I do have a memorial to Charles Kingsford-Smith. An early aviation pioneer who, in 1928, made the first Transpacific flight between the US and AUS. I’ll go check that out when I’m back in Brisbane.

    1. oh hey, good timing skylad. I just heard on “Let me Google That” that theres an area near you called The Pinnacles. Are you near them or are they maybe something that relates to one of the clues?

  38. Okay, maybe it’s just because I live here, but hear me out. On the way to Lincoln (link in) Nebraska, there’s the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum. Have never been there myself. It is near the Platte River, which dumps into the Missouri near Offut AFB.

    I’m not sure how Sydney came into all of this, but there is also a Sydney, Nebraska on the other side of the state.

    Other thoughts:

    -Could grow but not alive be fire?

    -I like the travel between north and south being the monarch butterfly

    -gold bubbles, there’s a town in CO where there are sparkling springs, Manitou Springs, it’s mineral water. there’s actually 8 springs there, so it’s really a meeting of waters! They also have a super awesome open air arcade and even an antique penny arcade if anyone makes it out there. Super cool hippy town.

  39. According to Google Manitou Springs is a few hours from me so I could definitely take a day to travel down there and try the location

  40. So are we thinking there is another clue in Kamloops? There was one last set that nearly stumped me, but I can put my thinking cap on if we are thinking there is another one here with the “meeting of water” line?

    1. meeting of water is confirmed to be kamloops, i think. Im pretty sure its tranquille creek if you want to explore it with me later this week.

  41. Going to be a bit rambly, but bear with me, my brain took the long way to get somewhere that may or may not pan out.

    The obvious thought was somewhere in the D.C., (though there are apparently a boatload of towns called Lincoln, seriously, it looks like there’s a dozen just in Wisconsin).

    But I remembered that there was a section of St. Augustine called Lincolnville (though not near enough to anything I could recall being able to link to any of the clues in the first stanza). Of course, it hasn’t really been within my reach in years, but it made me think to look at my section of the map zoomed out enough to see those section-of-town names.

    There are a couple sections with Lincoln in the name east of downtown, not too far from Depot Park, named for its railway history.

    tl;dr: I think I’ll be visiting the park once I get a day off…

  42. Are we still thinking it might be museums? There is a Museum and Heritage Park that belongs to the local indigenous people here in Kamloops (Tk’emlups to Secwepemc). As @Cj_Heighton had alluded to earlier, Tk’emlups is the Secwepemc word for “Meeting of the Rivers” or something along those lines.

    Just trying to pair it up with a line in the first stanza though. There is a line about traveling between North and South right? Well the two rivers that meet in Kamloops are the North and South Thompson rivers. The Tk’emlups people probably would have travelled between both rivers as their traditional territory spans a large area between both them. Just a thought.

    That is one thought about it, especially if we are looking for a museum. I feel like if Kamloops is a place given the meeting of waters, the traveling North and South could be the pair. I can dig into more options though

    1. Ah, crap thats a good point. I checked the 2141 yard and the museum and archived thus far, but the first nations reserve is all uncharted territory for me, since its so far from where i live and i know nobody who lives there. There might very well be something i missed in that place.

      1. The only reason I know about it is because I used to work for the Indian Band as their Junior Civil Engineer. I am just brainstorming at this point and time. Create a list of what we think and then see where we are at

    1. In terms of what i was going for, i know the first piece was “a meeting of waters”, and im thinking the second was “that grows but itsnt alive”. I found it at a museum on the wildfires from last year that devastated the entire western coast of bc

      1. Just want to add a little discussion to that. I thought it could be the wildfires too, but the exhibit has only been around for two weeks and is temporary. This set of clues came to us about a month ago. Is there anything else it could be?

      2. I think we decided that “That grow but aren’t alive” was my clue, @Cj_Heighton, and I think what @Brendon said is a good point. Was the museum that you went to the one that Brendon suggested? If so, what direction do the rivers flow at that crossing? If they flow north to south, then that could be “That travel between north and south,” though that implies a transfer between. Any others that it might be?

  43. Also, here are the memories we have so far and the clues that we think are associated with each:

    @Remus’ clue: “A Terrible Storm”; Or things that grow but aren’t alive, and minerals low

    @Mike’s clue: “A Broken Heart”; On wires, Jolt in the sky

    @Cj_Heighton’s clue: “A Lost Ship”; -, A meeting of waters

    Also, I think the way that @Saberlane broke down the first stanza is a more useful mapping than the original if that helps people identify possible clues!

    1. It’s worth a shot.

      I’ve also started trying to look for bodies of water with names that could translate to something with gold in it.

  44. At the US’s highest incorporated city and will be heading to test out the National Mining Museum relatively soon!

    Update: Museum day is tomorrow

  45. The only one on here that I think could apply to me would be That Between North and South, as I am in the process of moving to New Orleans… but its funny, its almost like the pin knows I’m going?

    Sentient Pin vibes are kinda cool, kinda spooky.

  46. Okay, so I was thinking it might be helpful, in the vein of what Remus posted above, to review the clues we’ve knocked out and the methodology that mapped them to their locations.

    I think it’s reasonable to say at this point that all of the locations we’re looking for are museums, so here’s what I’m thinking.

    Remus had “things that grow but aren’t alive / minerals low” – the original museum was designed to house a mineral collection, which fits both of these clues, since crystals and mineral deposits are non-living things that grow over time. Could also refer to the museum collection, but if they’re all museums that’s not a particularly distinctive clue, but I do still think “Low” may have been a sound clue

    Mike had “wires / a jolt in the air,” since both of those seem obviously related to the museum about electricity.

    Chi and Brendon I think had “travel between north and south / meeting of waters” since the name of Kamloops fits the meeting of waters, and when you reverse engineer the remaining first stanza clues, I think the travelling fits best given the history of that tribe.

    No proof yet, but I think 5 is definitely onto something with the aircraft museum in Champaign. That would be another soundalike clue, but the where bit suggests to me that the mention of Champagne should lead to a place (hopefully not the actual Champagne region of France since we’d need to country-hop to get there at the moment), and there just happens to be a museum there that fits the “wings” criteria.

    By my reckoning that would leave “wheels” and “twinkle in the sky” to be paired in some order with “link in (Lincoln) the address” and “a mill I can reach.” I still think the phrasing of that last one is weird in a way that might suggest another sound-alike clue, but I can’t place what it would be. I also got a little carried away in my excitement about oronyms; there are lots of Lincoln-related things in D.C., but very few are museums, and none are part of a street address. The closest I can think that would work is Ford’s Theatre, but that would be more of a play on the auto maker’s name than a legitimate connection to “wheels,”and it seems more likely to me that “Lincoln” would be the town name, if not part of the street address.

    1. I know the oronym thing was first mentioned related to our “link in” clue, but I just had a thought while going over the places I want to try today…

      Smack in the middle of the places I work, there are three bat houses. Decent tourist draw, particularly when they all fly out.

      It isn’t a museum, or part of one, but it’s on Museum Rd. “A link in the address?”

    2. I hate to be the one to add more discussion to the pot after your great summary and post. But since Chi used the other museum in Kamloops, I am not sure “Between North and South” can be applied to the “Meeting of Waters” clue. I am also pretty sure the exhibit @Ashburn found is temporary, similar to the fire exhibit Chi was talking about earlier. I have been doing some digging into the museum to see what I can find, and I found this image:

      You will notice in the back right there is a pretty cool car. I know nothing about the car/“wheels” other than it looks super cool and I want to drive it. But could that be our “on wheels” clue, instead of the “North and South” one? I have just been having some hard time coming up with concrete facts that would tie the “North and South” line to the Kamloops Museum and Archives

      1. To be completely honest, I have “north and south” marked off differently than the others on my personal notes too, just in case something else comes up.

  47. Id almost say “mill i CAN REACH” would be a pretty literal clue. This place might be around a bunch of milling related stuff, but be the only publicly accessible museum or the only one closest to the person in question.

    1. All the things named “mill” in my most recent suggestion for that are named after an actual mill on the heritage site. not that I can check it myself…

  48. i think we’re missing that the kamloops museum and archives has an entire exhibit dedicated to the tkumlups people, who lived on the north and south thompson river. Also it has an exhibit dedicated to settlers who travelled down the thompson on rafts to found fort kamloops.

  49. so, things we’re missing so far are

    On wheels

    on wings

    PossiblySolved(That travel between north and south)

    that twinkle in the sky

    A link in the address

    Where gold bubbles flow

    a mill i can reach

    anyone got a travelling mill on wheels and wings ala howls moving castle? lol

    1. Up at post 133 on here, there was the Willamette Heritage Site out in Salem, Oregon that I thought might be a good fit for on wheels – a mill I can reach.

      On wheels because of the Oregon Trail and mills having wheels.

      A mill I can reach because there’s a road and a river named for the mill at the heritage site (presumably).

      Of course, that’s about as far from me as you can get without heading into Canada… :deirdrexd:

    1. I haven’t been following this thread (busy at work lately) but i’ve done a quick scroll through and I may know the exact place this clue is talking about. Can someone give me a recap of what I’m looking for?

      1. In essence, go to the location w/ the ackerly green app open and a popup should appear if we got it right with a message. Screenshot the popup and post it here, and we’re good.

  50. I could have a possible combination. “A mill I can reach” would be the Clifton Mill, a revolutionary-era mill turned restaurant on the Little Miami River, which has some gold prospecting and panning areas, so “where gold bubbles flow”.

        1. I’m just saying it doesnt make grammatical sense. Gold bubbles implies its the bubbles that are gold, and not that there are gold and bubbles, in which case they’d just say “where gold and bubbles flow”.

          Just pointing out syntax.

  51. I was able to stand outside the front door of my tag and it updated quickly, so i assume a quick minute wait outside should be enough, unless the place is huge

  52. No luck in Salem. But it fits perfectly! I can come back with more time later. I wandered all over the area but there are some spots on the site that were closed for a special event.

  53. Thanks for checking this out katalena! There should be a little icon when the app is on (at least for android, unsure about ios), which should be all it needs. It may also help to have the gps turned on as well. :cjsmile:

    1. Yeah I’ll mess with my app a bit more. Then I’ll go explore the area again. There are train tracks that run north/south (trains grown and are not alive) creeks converge there, and I can touch the mill. And we are known for our wine (gold bubbles?) I’ll do some more research on the clue too.

        1. From what I’ve experienced, you 100% DO NOT have to be signed in for the weird notifications to work. I have not been signed in when I’ve received mine.

  54. Sorry for not posting sooner. Been out of town (a long post is due, I turned a family vacation into a hunt for the mysterious A.G. shipment) but @Catherine has been in the office on her own, brave soul she is. She’s noticed that the sounds of the “other” AG office have been steadily fading over the past month. And no sign of Woolie. She was working on the last set of clues and wrote them all down in a notebook. This morning she found that some parts had been crossed out and some phrases had been marked up or annotated!

    On wheels a) or wings

    On wires or things

    That grow but aren’t alive

    b) That travel between north and south

    c) Or twinkle in the sky

    b) A link-in the address

    a) Where gold bubbles flow

    c) A mill-I-can reach

    And minerals low

    A meeting of waters

    A jolt in the air

    This is a huge boon going forward. As long as some form of the office connection continues, we might be able to get help.

    My concern is why does the link seems to be fading. Is it because magic is basically gone after unlocking The Book of Briars? Is it because we haven’t solved the clue? Is there some kind of timetable to all this?

    1. With the connection to Where gold bubbles flow and or wings being confirmed, I’m really getting the sense that the Champaign aviation museum is a good place to go.

      Also, looking at it now, there’s dashes with both link-in and mill-I-can. If link-in is Lincoln does that mean mill-I-can is some sort of oronym? Apparently there is both a Millican, Texas and a Millican, Oregon. And a residential district in Calgary, Alberta called Millican Estates.

  55. If there is a timetable, what is causing it to be in effect?

    Also it leads to two paths for us:

    A) We hurry and work to beat this unknown timetable (which I think is the best idea)

    or B) We find a way to change the timetable

    Edit: I’m aware that this is most likely False Dichotomy logical fallacy, but I currently can’t think of more outcomes.

      1. We’re not entirely sure of the location, but the hint is “A mill-I-can reach” and “Or twinkle in the sky.” Since the founder of the school is Charles Millican and he chose the slogan “reach for the stars” – it would probably be something related to either of those things. There is a statue near Millican hall that I think might be the answer.

        Once you’re over there, you should have your phone with you, with the Ackerly Green app open. Also, it might help to have your GPS turned on as well. Then you should check and see if you get any notifications!

        1. I didn’t even know the Aviation museum was there Rev! I’m going to trying to go either later today or tomorrow! That’s an awesome find!

          Edit: Has to be tomorrow as it’s currently closed.

  56. Just in case the statue doesn’t work and we’re going for the museum angle again (all the rest have been), there’s an art gallery on UCF’s campus (in the visual arts building), a GLBT History museum that is run out of the history department in Colbourn Hall, and the “bug closet,” which is one of the largest database collections of insect specimens in the world and has been called a museum in the one article I found via Google, and is located wherever the Biology department is.

    There may be more than what I found, but I wanted to throw out some other possibilities. The campus is rather large and if the statue doesn’t do it, I’d want to hit as many points as might trigger the memory.

    1. From what I read (if I’m remembering right from earlier), aerospace was one of the first big departments there, so older parts of campus are probably good bets (especially with those space-themed street names circling the main building, lots of things that could “twinkle in the sky”).

    2. Shoot, yeah, I may have been going too hard for the Millican angle. :sweat_smile: What about the observatory? There’s also a solar energy museum somewhere nearby, but I don’t think it’s on campus.

  57. I did some poking around on a map, and my personal best guesses for narrowing down options would be the Reflecting Pond side of the Millican building, or this area by the Engineering buildings:

    I wasn’t able to see anything from the outside on the actual Engineering building, but if Millican doesn’t work, that’d be my next best guess.

  58. So per, Wollie’s annotations, we’ve got two sets left:

    that travel between North and South, a link-in the address

    AND

    Or twinkle in the sky, A mill-I-can reach

    I know we’re waiting on echo to check out the second one, but do we have any leads on the first?

  59. Guys, I know its late, but OH MY GOSS I found one.

    You guys know I am moving, and today was my last day in the town I grew up in with two of my closest friends. It was kinda last second but I had this gut feeling I needed to walk my town one more time. Like that feeling you get when you’re about to leave the house and you feel like you’re forgetting something important. So we decided that we would get dinner in downtown rather than spend the night in. We had a forecast of rain so I grabbed my denim jacket, where Herman permanently resides. We walked around the whole of town, had some great laughs, walked down the physical incarnations of memory lane…

    As we passed The Bucks County Civil War Library my phone buzzed. “You found a piece of memory: Dark Shoals”

  60. So we’re all on the same page:

    • Remus – Logan Museum of Anthropology – “And minerals low, that grow but aren’t alive” – “A Terrible Storm”
    • Mike – SPARK Museum – “On wires or things, a jolt in the air” – “A Broken Heart
    • Cj_Heighton – Museum and Heritage Park – “A meeting of waters, on wheels ” – “A Lost Ship”
    • Mr5yy – Champaign Aviation Museum – “Where gold bubbles flow, or wings” – “The Little Island”
    • OracleSage – Bucks County Civil War Library – “A link-in the address, that travel between north and south” – “Dark Shoals”
    • ??? – “A mill-I-can reach, or twinkle in the sky”
  61. A wind turbine would almost fit the last clue perfectly, if not the mill part. There’s also the lights on top to warn airplanes and helicopters off during the night. Some people also call them windmills, but you never know.

    1. That’s totally fine! Since we aren’t sure of the exact location, it’d be good to pick a day where you don’t mind strolling around campus a bit.

      Have you been to the UCF campus a lot? Any ideas of some museum-like areas that might trigger the memory?

  62. I go there for school but it’s only been one semester. There’s a few areas I can think off, like actual Milligan hall and the statue and then a few star themed areas around campus that could work if that doesn’t.

  63. Okay, I went to millican Hall and the statue and also part of the housing community which is named after stars and also the library, but didn’t get anything from any of those. I had the app open? So I guess it’s not those spots. I’ll look tonight where else I should check out since I’ll be on campus again tomorrow, and then classes start Monday so maybe something will turn up when I’m there then…

    1. The observatory seems like the best bet. But maybe stop at the art gallery just for kicks? Maybe it’ll be like the situation with Chi and they happen to have a temporary exhibit going on related to the clue.

  64. hello i was not able to stop by yesterday because they needed me to stay later at work But i will be on campus monday and every weekday from now on because hashtag classes, so i will check out these places as i can on monday and etc, hopefully i can knock them all out real fast and fine the thing

    also i just want to double check something: i have the app open on my phone but my phone closed? or have the app open and the phone open? for to get the notification.

    1. I think word is that you don’t have to have the app open, but it sounds like we’ve been doing it anyway just in case to make sure the GPS is on. :ascendershrug:

      In theory any notification should come through with or without the screen on.

  65. Yes I found it there!!! It said I found ‘choppy waters’ but when I clicked on it nothing happened and I don’t have a screenshot or anything :confused:

  66. YES!

    …and now, with a bit more chill, a recap of all of them. :deirdreexcited:

    Things that grow but aren’t alive – Minerals low – Remus, Logan Museum of Anthropology, “A Terrible Storm”

    On wires – A jolt in the air – Mike, Spark Museum, “A Broken Heart”

    On wheels – A meeting of waters – Chi, Kamloops Museum & Archives, “A Lost Ship”

    Or wings – Where gold bubbles flow – Mr5yy, Aviation Museum, Champaign, “The Little Island”

    That travel between north and south – A link in the address – Oracle, Bucks County Civil War Library & Museum, “Dark Shoals”

    Or twinkle in the sky – A mill I can reach – Echo, Art Gallery at UCF, “Choppy Water”

      1. Great work guys! Okay, I’m out of the city until Monday but I’ll have @Catherine (who is not at all looking forward to meeting Woolie) keep an eye out. So happy to have forward momentum. Let’s see where this next one goes.

          1. (post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)

  67. Hey guys, quick update–

    First things first, still no sign of Woolie…I’m not sure if I’m disappointed or relieved. It’s been generally pretty quiet in the office for the past few weeks, but I was still a little on edge this afternoon after you guys found the last piece of memory. The only thing that happened today that was even slightly out of the ordinary, (and I say slightly because we’re pretty sure our office neighbors are in the mafia and there are questionable noises coming from next door all the time) was a huge THUMP sound at one point coming from what felt like right behind me. I jumped about a mile out of my seat, but there definitely wasn’t anything or anyone else in the office with me, and aside from a little rattling of some stuff on the bookshelf, nothing in the office was affected or disrupted or out of place in anyway. I was more than a little shook, but I told myself I was just being paranoid and stuck it out for another hour or so, then left at my normal time and went straight from the office to meet up with some friends for a Yankees game.

    I just got home and got settled to read a little before bed, but when I pulled my book out of my bag I found this stuck inside where I left off? I found my normal bookmark at the bottom of my bag, which isn’t super unusual for it to fall out, but I’m absolutely positive I’ve never seen this ticket thing (if that’s even what it is?) before in my life. I also know for sure that my book was with me in my bag all day, and the last time I opened it before now was on the subway ride to the office this morning. I don’t know what to make of it, and I still have like a million goosebumps all over my body, but I can’t shake the feeling that this was somehow meant for you guys?

      1. I couldn’t agree more. Good lord is that creepy. :scream:

        No idea where this phantom lighthouse is, and that’s probably a good thing. I’d be tempted to suggest bringing a Ouija board, but that seems like the setup for a horror movie. :joy:

    1. Okay that’s more than a little spoopy :grimacing: And maybe it’s not a response direct from Woolie, but it seems linked on first glance? The clues we got were about choppy water and a lost ship and a broken heart…

  68. Yeah the more I think about it the more freaked out I get…so much for my quiet, calming, pre-bed reading time :colewat:

    So uh, you guys got this, right? There’s definitely a logical, non-horror movie answer for this? Because no way in hell am I touching a ouija board again either…

    1. Wait, again? Should we know more about this story? :eyes:

      I wouldn’t stress too much. Magiq can be unsettling at times, but Woolie doesn’t seem to be a malevolent spirit. Especially if this is tied in somehow with the remains of the Ackerly Green radio hour, it may be strange but it’s unlikely to be harmful, especially to an AG employee. This is all just my intuition on the situation, though.

      1. Oh, you know, just grew up in a haunted house and got spooked a couple times with one of those things, nothing out of the usual middle school shenanigans though.

        Thanks for the reassuring words though, Rev. I trust your intuition! Hasn’t steered you guys wrong yet :slight_smile:

  69. Ouija boards are nightmare fuel, one time me and my cousin messed around with one in Marthas Vineyard, and eugh, I had nightmares for weeks.

    That is so creepy, but also kinda cool? I guess the bright side of this is, maybe Woolie is the source? Is it less scary if you know the ghost?

    EDIT: I googled The Phantom Lighthouse, and the only thing of interest I saw was the 1935 film, but I’m not sure if that’s relevant?

  70. So maybe I fell down the rabbit hole, but according to Wikipedia, āb is the Persian word for “water” which seems pretty fitting for a lighthouse…

    1. I looked up the number, initially thinking it could be a date without dividing lines, but then looked at possible postal codes, and if there were any lighthouses around.

      Comes up with a place in Malaysia, and not too far from the center of that code’s range is a place labeled “Memory Museum.”

      Adding: there are actually a boon of different museums in that area, and a UNESCO heritage site. Though my search for lighthouses comes up with a “Lighthouse Cafe.” :deirdrexd:

      More: There’s a Ghost Museum.

  71. A benevolent old man who had died 50 years prior rescues a boy and his father from a collapsing iceflow in a heavy storm. Seems like i maybe stumbled onto something?

    1. This seems very promising, and gave me a few different thoughts. Sorry if it gets ramble-y.

      • If it directly related to the Twilight Zone thing, perhaps it’s attached to memories of someone that really liked it?

      • That issue takes place at the Great Lakes, but there are other haunted lighthouses on small islands. I’m still looking into it, but it looks like at least one light of that description is in range of where Woolie used to sail. Could tie to his memories?

      • Maybe it’s related to the story of the old man that Woolie’s ship saved in his last memory?

  72. The AB 10622 is probably just the ticket issue number. The bit im interested in is who is she that’s waiting for us? Also there a lot of lighthouses around New York. @Catherine is there anything on the reverse side?

  73. This might not be what we’re looking for but it’s relevant and really cool

  74. “Legend has it that in the 1900s a keeper murdered his wife by pushing her down the steps. Her spirit never left her home. It is said she harasses men only by shaking them, lifting their beds, or even locking them in a closet or out of rooms.”

    Hey @Saberlane can you check out this place? :joy:

  75. If we’re looking at specifically New York – related locations I can also offer

    Execution Rocks at Long Island Sound

    And

    The Coney Island lighthouse

    Given that’s it’s a ticket I think Coney Island would be a better fit,although the death there is of a man, not a “She”.

    1. We got a magiqal radio show after we found the first set of memories. Maybe this isn’t a physical location as much as another magiqal performance, like a play or film.

  76. Random thoughts for the heck of it.

    There’s a story called “The Phantom Light-House” in the July 25, 1891 issue of the “Wide Awake (Mr Wideawake?) Library” The alternate name of the story is “The Mystery of the Storm Coast.” That’s a few coincidences in one place, but most likely they are just coincidences.

    I’ve only skimmed the story and didn’t see a whole lot that applies to us, but there it is.

    I agree with @Augustus_Octavian that this might lead to a presentation of story of some kind like the radio show.

    Maybe phantom lighthouse is a website? i’ve tried a bunch of combinations. Phantomlighthouse.com, phantom.lighthouse, etc, etc. With no luck.

    Maybe AB 10622 is a call number of something in some sort of audio/visual collection?

    1. Perhaps Phantom isn’t a descriptor as much as it’s an owner. Maybe the Lighthouse is in a town or city named Phantom? Anyone know of a place near them called Phantom?

  77. I tried a brief search online, and without digging too hard (or trying to presume it’s one of the at least two haunted lights in FL) I found one that kind of sounds promising?

    The name reminded me of Hecate, and part of the area is called Devil’s Elbow.

    (Oh, and it’s in Oregon, the article never mentioned where it was located)

  78. Have any of the locations for previous hunts been outside of mainland USA? Would help narrow down the search area. Granted the eastern seaboard of the US is big.

      1. They are way too short, but could the numbers on then ticket have anything to do with coordinates?

        Or a date and time we should keep on the lookout for?

  79. I spent a while going down a date/time foxhole. I couldn’t find a use for it that made sense.

    My favorite personal wormhole was to create the concept of AB (After Book of Briars …although I guess that’s more ABoB) as the start of a new calendar cycle. So the number after AB would signify some amount of time past when the book opened. (Warning pointless but fun math times ahead.)

    All times in Heman TimeZone

    The Book of Briars opened at Sunday October 1, 3:33 pm 2017

    AB 10622 days would be
    Wednesday, October 31, 2046 at 3:33:00 am

    AB 10622 Hours would be
    Monday, December 17, 2018 at 5:33:00 pm

    AB 10622 Minutes would be
    Sunday, October 1, 2017 at 3:33:00 am

    That hours result is kinda interesting that it’s coming in a couple months, but I highly doubt Wooly would give us a clue we’d just have to sit on for almost 3 months.

    By the way for those who wish to join me in my new calendar. Today is AB 344 Days. Happy AB 344 everyone!

  80. Could the 10622 be a zip code or area code? I searched for 10622 area codes in Alberta and it gave a whole host of results. A google search for Alberta light house area code 10622 didn’t give me any helpful results though.

    1. Canadian postal codes are an alternating combination of 3 letters and 3 numbers (in my experience).

      I had been able to find the number as a postal code for somewhere in Malaysia, which is definitely not an AB.

  81. As an Alberta resident, that is definitely not how our postal system operates, unfortunately.

    Ash is correct, they alternate between letters and numbers.

    Also regarding lighthouses we’re pretty landlocked ?

    I appreciate you exploring all possibilities though. What about an American zip code? In New York or otherwise? I’m unsure how they work.

  82. I tried looking at Aberdeen (can get as far as AB10), but the closest I can find a lighthouse is in AB11 (and still can’t figure out the last few numbers).

    Also tried looking into grid reference maps, but doesn’t look like AB is a letter pair used, and there’re either too many or two few numbers.

    1. UK postcodes are an area code (one or two letters) and a number (one or two digits), then a number and 2 letters. Couple of examples; CA12 7QO or B2 6ND (both made up, with CA for Cardiff and B for Birmingham). With only 2 letters, this cannot be a UK postcode.

  83. Okay, I’m back and just as perplexed as you guys. I’m working on a longer post, but the gist is that I think I finally found the A.G. shipment. I mean, I think I know where it is. But now I’m waiting for someone there to confirm it’s there, and that I can have it. Update very soon.

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